The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics/U.F.O.'s at the Zoo

OK so I have been on a Lips kick since the other night when i watched the UFO at the zoo DVD that I love so very much. Lets just start by saying if you haven't seen The Flaming Lips live, I suggest that you put their website and myspace and whatever else can give you updates in your "to check daily" list because the second they announce their next tour you find a venue near yourself and you buy a ticket. If you don't you are pretty much missing out on the greatest experience of your life.

I guess I can make this a mix review of both that DVD and the Lips most recent album At War with the Mystics.

It seems to me that most people kinda look past this album a bit, to me it is a fantastic display of where the lips have come from since their last two The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (The Soft Bulletin being my personal favorite and Yoshimi being their most commercially successful) and a great showing as to where they are going. I think even though it was still produced to the max with the same psychedelic sounds that make the Lips such and experience to listen too, it has a more "earthy" tone to it contrary to the album title. I really feel like they brought this one from home. The opening track is the single Yeah Yeah Yeah song which when i first heard about the release I thought it was going to be some sort of homage to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (possibly like the song off of the UK released Fight Test EP - "Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)") This proved to be wrong but I wasn't let down that's for sure. Yeah Yeah Yeah song is the perfect happy and optimistic song to kick off a lips album. The talk-box guitar effect found on it is a major theme throughout the album it almost becomes its own instrument finding its way into almost every song. (Seems like Steven Drozd was on a talk box kick whilst writing this...just sayin...) 

Free Radicals which comes in on track two is definitely on of the most interesting songs I've ever heard (Lips or not) it's odd lack of instruments in the first minute drags for a sort of awkward amount of time before the drums kick in (the pay off is worth it though) even after the song comes to a whole there are still random stops and the timing is slightly off paced but it holds together and rocks just like any other epic song by Mr. Drozd himself. *side note* whilst seeing the lips live Sept. of 2007 in Allentown PA, a friend of mine KP was seeing them for the first time and after the show she noted Free Radicals as her favorite of the night, this probably attributing to the fact of how odd and different it sounds then the others...not that all of their music isn't odd...and different. 

NEXT song is "The Sound of Failure/It's Dark...Is It Always Dark??" this song brings it down a notch in the adrenaline levels and is a really beautiful song, the electric guitar work is what I pay most attention to in this track and it is very retro and catchy within this spacey song (and it works quite well) The lyrics are depressing yet optimistic in there ways (as Wayne always seems to do) but he mentions the names Brittney and Gwen in the chorus and my first few listens too i couldn't shake the idea of Spears and Stefani being the girls he speaks of (I guess I'm just as bad as the rest of them...) 

The next song is my personal favorite and kind of like the "Do You Realize" or the "It's Summertime" of this album with its beauty and optimism. The track is titled "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" and the theme of the song is birds (the best part of the song is the ambient birds chirping in the background cheesy but tastefully done) The song itself seems to soar through your speakers with delicacy and grace as it tells you to realize how precious life is and to ignore those others around you that might bring you down, a simple concept with a grand result. In the second verse Wayne talks about those that are pessimistic and those you are too ignore and delvers my favorite line, "They see the sun go down but they don't see it rise" (this line could stay on repeat for me and I would be happy) again such a simple line but the delivery and the placement in the song as the guitar feeds back and builds up to this great tone you get to the end of the word "rise" and you throw your fist up in the air (or you begin to air guitar the intoxicating riff that precedes it) 

The next track "Vein of Stars" has a very similar tone and style to the third track "The Sound of Failure" this song though takes a even more spacey tone with more ambient sound and no real driving electric guitar the song just sort of floats around in this open space with the chant of "who knows" driving it around in circles creating clouds of sound above your head (it in fact creates this voice that floats above me "calling out my name"). 

The next track is an instrumental titled "The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins" This takes on a life of its own as the drums batter down with a very familiar drone we then hear the "incendiary" guitar, upon the infamous wah wah petal this piercing screech that we hear is very powerful and defiantely makes you try and make the guitar noises with your mouth (i assume its something like wernt wenrt wenrt wernt wernernernerrrrrr) Its definitely a great song with no need for vocals which is why I understand the decision to leave them out. Rawk. 

Following this song is "It Overtakes Me/The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?" during this repetitious yet never annoying song we are left only to chant along with Mr. Coyne himself "It Overtakes me it wakes and bakes me it overtakes me oh oh oh I" definitely a fan favorite (as its well know a decent portion of the lips fans are pot heads...it makes sense) this song is tons of fun and you can find it overtaking you as you get up and dance around the room and enjoy yourself in knowing you are such a tiny thing in this vast universe of stars. 

The next track "Mr. Ambulance Driver" appeared on the Wedding Crashers soundtrack making it probably the most-popular-without-even-knowing-it song off the album and in the same respects as "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" the ambient sounds of an ambulance driving about the streets certainly adds to the atmosphere of the song and draws you into the possible situation you have either gone through or hope you never do. This is probably my least favorite track from the album mainly because I feel like it doesn't quite fit on the album but it is a good song by itself. 

NEXT we have "Haven't Got a Clue" which is another odd ball song with a sort of long drawn out verse that doesn't seem to end it drives right at us the whole time with a 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 and offset lyrics the song works and as a comedic tone that helps you get through the silly tone of it. With lyrics like "every time you state your case the more i want to punch your face" and Wayne actually following the distorted guitar with his vocals going BVVDDT BVVDDTT which is perfect because that's pretty much what you wanted to do anyway. 

Onward we go to my second favorite song on the album which i will sometimes cheat and skip right too if i really am in the mood to rock out " The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat) This was the second single off the album and another song about power and the unknown ability to apply it correctly but this one does it with more force but definitely following in the footsteps of Yeah Yeah Yeah song with the loud and awesome drums and use of distortion in this one Wayne usually uses a megaphone (loaded with smoke bombs as well as a giant strobe light hanging around his neck) to sing this song with the umpf that it needs to match the intensity in the recording. *side note* I went to film my band at the time in a music video and I completely stole the idea used in the video for W.A.N.D. when the bouncy balls are falling around everywhere, some of the footage came out really awesome looking but then half of it got lost at my school and the whole project got scrapped, twas a shame. My favorite part of the song is i think the last time the drums build up before the song starts to deteriorate the off beats and the snare rolls are so sick and sound so good I just wait for it every time and try to air drum it and usually miss some beat (Mr. Drozd you are truly an inspiration). 

The next track I believe was a reject song from the soundtrack to Christmas On Mars, I believe after editing the film down they had to cut the song so it ended up on this album. "Pompeii am Götterdämmerung" is a mesmerizing enchaining song with quiet and religious style vocals and a keyboard that could possibly put you to sleep if the drums didn't come in to jiggle your balls a bit. The song is soft and pretty but builds to a nice pacing and doesn't disappoint. 

To finish off the album the song "Goin' On" is a nice send off and a nice sounding song to say goodnight to. *side note* The song title and placement remind me of "Ride On" by AC/DC which appeared on Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap but was one of the last songs recorded by Bon Scott before he died. Goin' On is of course another brilliantly and simply written optimistic song that rings in your ears, the best part is during the chorus where Wayne sings "goin' on" and in between we hear the bass drum thumping on "goin on THUMP THUMP goin on THUMP THUMP, listen you'll hear it we're gettin near it" the song almost has a tone of old Disney songs and it tends to bring me back to childhood I can't really explain why but all I know is that I like it, and I want it to keep goin on.


All I am really going to say about the U.F.O.'s at the zoo dvd is...just watch it...buy it, rent it, burn it, download it, borrow it, do what you gotta do but get your hands on a copy get a group of your friends (Lips fans or not) and watch it. Throw a lips party because you are a few shots of adrenaline shy and a few brain cells ahead of being in the flesh with Wayne, Steven, Mike, and Kliph the show is just as incredible as you could imagine and if you haven't seen them before its a good taste and for those that have it really brings you back.

Thanks for listening folks but more importantly go listen to the Lips!